Friday, May 26, 2017

Business Spotlight: Cherries on Top by Michelle Libby

Everyone deserves to have ice cream and at Cherries On
Top, Ingrid Fockler does everything she can to make sure that she has choices
for all ice cream desires.

Fockler bought Cherries On Top last September. Since then
she has been dreaming about the shop at 1252 Roosevelt Trail in Raymond. As a
911 dispatcher, she was constantly dealing with people on their worst days.

“Now I’m not dealing with death and heartbreak every day.
You need a little bit of sunshine in your life,” she said. Fockler’s goal is to
make the shop personable and have good customer service above all else.

Cherries On Top sells Annabelle’s hard serve ice cream,
which is all natural, kosher, gluten free, with no additives or artificial
colors and only 16 percent butterfat. They also have some Hershey’s flavors
like: cotton candy, bubble gum, and chocolate and vanilla moose tracks. For a
true taste of Maine there will be blueberry ice cream as well.

“When I got into ice cream, I didn’t realize there were
different kinds,” Fockler said.

One of the bestselling ice cream products is the soft
serve that has 30 flavors. The soft serve frozen yogurt is low in sugar and glycemic index as well as gluten free. It also has very few calories.

They brought Nanci’s Frozen Yogurt to Cherries
On Top because it is extra smooth and creamy and tastes like traditional soft
serve ice cream but with all the benefits of frozen yogurt. It even contains
probiotics and is safe for most people sensitive to lactose. One topping of
choice can be mixed in with the cones. No more sprinkles falling all over the
car.

“It’s good for diabetics. One person told me, it’s been 15
years since they had black raspberry soft serve,” Fockler said. Some of the
most popular flavors are: peanut butter, pina-colada, pumpkin pie, expresso
coffee, salted caramel, triple chocolate and graham central station- which
consists of graham cracker ice cream, graham crackers and chocolate covered
pretzels. Customers are invited to call ahead for pre-packaged pints and quarts
of soft serve and hard serve ice cream.

“What kid should grow up not having ice cream? It’s for
everyone,” said Fockler. They have very good procedures in place to avoid cross
contamination, but there are nuts in the shop, she warned.

They offer cake cones, sugar cones, waffle cones and
waffle bowls. They also make frappes, smoothies and of course, banana splits.
They also make fresh java frappes, made with Coffee by Design coffee.They also sell a cherry bomb, which is
crushed ice with a Red Bull.

“I’ve learned about food, you have to make it pretty,” she
said. She does her best to give everything a special look or design. “It’s like
art.”

Cherries On Top doesn’t stop with ice cream. They also
offer red and blonde hot dogs, fluff-a-nutter sandwiches and have plans to
expand to homemade baked goods and possibly pizza.

The shop has had a lot of support from locals and
surrounding areas like South Portland, Auburn and Gray. Cherries On Top has six
employees and they are accepting applications for older high schoolers or
graduates. There is also outdoor seating.

Once school is out, the hours at Cherries On Top will be
noon to 9 p.m. For now, the hours are Wednesday and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8
p.m., Fridays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. and
Sundays from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For more information and to
find out what’s new, visit www.cherriesicecream.com or call 207-655-6437. You
can also find them on Facebook where you can read five star reviews on why
their ice cream and frozen yogurt is so amazing.<